Field of the Invention
The present disclosure pertains to the field of three dimensional printing (3D printing) of anatomy. More particularly, 3D printing is used to replicate a nursing mother's nipple.
Description of the Related Art
Breastfeeding is associated with many advantages for both mother and baby. Some studies suggest an association between breastfeeding and; (1) lower risk of asthma or allergies; (2) fewer ear infections, respiratory illnesses and bouts of diarrhea; (3) higher IQ scores for the baby later in childhood; and (4) improved weight for both mother and baby. Many breastfed infants are also fed using conventional baby bottles. Nipple confusion sometimes arises where a bottle-fed baby “forgets” how to nurse on mother's nipple. This happens because breastfeeding requires far more vigorous mouth and tongue motions and greater muscle coordination than does bottle-feeding. Thus, a newborn who is exposed to conventional bottle nipples or even conventional pacifiers can cease to nurse properly. The art provides no known solution to this problem, other than to let the baby rediscover how to nurse.
3D printing, which is sometimes called additive manufacturing, is a well-known process for producing three dimensional objects. Conventionally, robotic processing utilizes inkjet-like printer heads to deposit successive layers of material into the shape of a three dimensional article. Deposition methods, among others, include such extrusion technologies as fused deposition modeling and, fused filament fabrication of thermoplastics. See, for example, Chee Kai Chua; Kah Fai Leong; Chu Sing Lim (2003). Rapid Prototyping. World Scientific. p. 124. ISBN 978-981-238-117-0. Powder bed deposition technologies include selective heat sintering and selective laser of thermoplastic powder. Powder bed and inkjet head printing may be used to deposit most metal alloys, plaster and powdered polymers. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,247,508 to Housholder for “Molding Process” issued to Hiemenz; and “Rapid prototypes move to metal components, EE Times, Mar. 9, 2007. 3D printing processes may be utilized to make 3D articles utilizing polymers, metals, and ceramics. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,569,273 issued to Bredt et al., describes the use of powder deposition technology to deposit thermoplastic silicone materials.
3D articles may be printed utilizing a computer-aided design package, a scanner, an ordinary camera, or a 3D specific camera to feed data to photogrammetry software. Commercially available software for this purpose includes, for example, ContextCapture, Pix4Dmapper, Photoscan, 123D Catch, Bundler toolkit, PIXDIM, and Photosketch. 3D Printing has been utilized to make human prosthetic devices. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,692 to Fink et al. describes the rapid manufacture of bone prosthesis by use of medical computer aided imaging to make a replica of original bone that is deposited using laser-bonded layers of ceramic particles. U.S. Pat. No. 8,454,362 describes the use of a 3D camera to capture data that may be used in making a dental prosthesis, such as a crown.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,044,380 to Sabree et al. describes a process of impression-molding a mother's breast to make a mold from which may be cast either a nipple for a baby bottle or a pacifier. This is problematic in the sense that, practically speaking, the time required for the impression-forming process precludes making a mold of the breast in an active state of lactation, as described below. Moreover, the resins utilized in casting custom nipples from this impression are of questionable safety when used in combination with baby products. Lastly, the impression-forming process physically distorts the nipple area of the breast, which defeats the purpose of forming a custom nipple that closely resembles that of a mother's breast.
Some attempts have been made to make artificial nipples by use of 3D printing, but without good success. WO2017/019401 to Dretzaka-Kaye et al describes a vacuum chamber that retains a breast in position for a laser scanning operation that creates a digital imaging file. The nipple region of the breast may be reproduced as an artificial nipple by use of 3D printing, stereo lithography or molding processes. Here the vacuum problematically distorts the mother's nipple to a non-natural state other than that which would be presented to an infant. Similarly, WO2016/154681 to Mobbs shows imaging of a breast that may be reproduced by use of 3D printing; however, the breast is not placed in an active state of lactation as would normally presented to an infant.